oops

Reports are that the small cruise ship Saint Laurent is taking on water in a lock on the seaway. She was bound for Toronto.

Saint Laurent visited Halifax last week. The ship appears to be in the lock which suggests she bumped the side entering the lock.

More details to follow.

UPDATES:

Several injuries are reported. Photos on Twitter show the bow impaled by part of the lock. The lock has re portly been drained so the ship is sitting on the dry bottom of the lock.

UPDATE 06/19 0900:Michael Folsom@theshipwatcher has a Source on scene providing Photos. I have posted a few bellow for the benefit of non Twitter users. It appears that the Ship went to far forward in the lock, and struck the ledge that the upper lock gate sits on.

Update 06/20:

Group Ocean tugs are on route and last noted near Montreal. Presumably they will pull the boat out of the lock. Seaway rraffic is backing up in both directions due to the closure.

Reports are that a Canadian river pilot was aboard, and that the Saint Laurent suddenly accelerated when the auto pilot was disengaged.

The size of the impact dent suggests she had some speed when she hit the lock, which would be abnormal for entering a lock.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) today released its investigation report (M14A0051) into the 14 March 2014 flooding, grounding, and subsequent evacuation of the bulk carrier John I off the southwest coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. There were no injuries to the 23 crew members.

We covered the grounding and tow in a couple of posts as events unfolded.

The John I entered ice-covered waters off the southwest coast of Newfoundland on its way to Montreal, Quebec, from Las Palmas, Spain. After the engine cooling water temperature began to rise, the crew opened the sea water strainer housing and found that the strainer was plugged. As the crew began removing ice and slush from the strainer, water began to overflow from the open strainer housing. When the crew attempted to close the leaking sea chest valve to stop the flow of water, its operating mechanism failed. Sea water began to enter the vessel in an uncontrolled manner, overflowing into the engine room. The master then ordered the vessel to be blacked out, causing it to drift. As the vessel drifted towards the shore, commercial towing assistance was requested, but delayed due to the weather. Upon its arrival on scene, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Earl Grey offered to tow the John I away from the shore. Further delays were encountered while the John I’s master conferred with the vessel’s managing company, the CCG and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC). When the master finally accepted the tow, the first attempt to establish a tow line failed, and the vessel’s proximity to the shoals did not allow for completion of a second attempt. The John I then ran aground on the shoals. The crew members were evacuated by helicopter. The vessel’s hull sustained minor damage. The investigation found that warmed sea water from the engine cooling system was being partially discharged overboard and partially returned to the main sea water pump suction, rather than being recirculated to the low sea chest to prevent ice buildup. The strainer became plugged with ice and slush. The sea chest valve was prevented from fully closing, likely due to ice buildup, and the valve operating mechanism failed due to overstress when the crew forcibly attempted to close it, which led to the flooding. The JRCC did not have the authority to direct the master of the John I to accept the tow. Neither the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Environmental Response nor Transport Canada, both of which had the authority to direct the vessel to accept the tow, were actively involved at an earlier stage when it was clear that the time to take action was running out and the environmental risks posed by the vessel going aground were increasing. The delay in starting the towing operation was caused both by the master’s reluctance to accept the tow and by the way that authorities managed the situation. If all authorities responsible for dealing with an emergency are not involved in a timely and coordinated manner, there is a risk that response options will be limited and the situation will escalate

A Bulker anchored in English Bay in Vancouver spilled several tons of Bunker fuel into the harbour yesterday, Most of the oil has now been collected, it has however reached land in several places.

This incident has angered environmentalists, who are now citing this as an example of why tankers in northern BC waters are a dangerous idea. While this leak, is the equivalent of a leaky fuel tank in your car, it appears that the spill was reported 9 hours before a response was mobilized.

The real issue in this case is not that fuel spilled (though this is unusual, needs to be investigated, and the crew charged if they did something illegal) but that the response took 9 hours. If the response was quicker, and oil booms setup, in all likely hood the slick would have remained around the ship and not reached shore.

Could it happen here? sure. In fact it has. HMCS Preserver left a valve open in 2011 and spilled several tons of fuel by Imperial Oil. Quick action contained the spill, and we only found out about it via the media.

the Halifax Joint Rescue Coordination Center has advised that 2 cormorant Helicopters and 2 vessels have been dispatched to the Coast Guard Ice breaker Ann Harvey, who is reportedly taking on water. Ann Harvey was breaking ice tending buoys off Burgeo NL at the time of the incident.

She spent a week in Halifax In march.

There are 28 persons aboard, 26 crew, along with 2 cadets, and no one has been injured.reports are the Ingress is due to the vessel striking bottom. The Burgeo Lifeboat CCGS WG George is on scene assisting and has a tow line attached to the Ann Harvey. The Louis St Laurent is 10-12 hours away, and will be released by the CCGS Teleost on her arrival, expected Thursday afternoon.

UPDATE 02/04/15 1000: She has lost propulsion, as Motor Room is flooded. Ann Harvey is powered by 3 diesels, which drive generators. The 2 fixed pitch propellers are driven by electric motors, which are located in the flooded compartment.

the 2 cadets, and 2 non essential crew members have been evacuated from the ship. DND has sent a team of Navy divers to Newfoundland to survey the vessel, and HMCS Charlottetown also departed Halifax Wednesday to provide support.

Louis Ste Laurent was due around midnight, and was planning to tow the Ann Harvey to safe anchorage in Connoire Bay.

Coast Guard search and rescue crews from Station Gloucester, Air Station Cape Cod and the Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke rescued nine crewmembers from the Canadian tall ship Liana’s Ransom 58 miles east of Gloucester, Monday.

Watchstanders at the Sector Boston Command Center received notification at 12:35 a.m. that the vessel’s engines were disabled and its sails were wrapped around the mast.

As the weather deteriorated, and seas reached nearly 10 feet, Sector Boston launched two 47-foot motor lifeboat crews from Station Gloucester to tow the vessel back to Gloucester. Once on scene, the boat crews connected the tow, but the rough sea conditions caused the tow line to break.

The motor lifeboats crews directed the crew of Liana’s Ransom to don immersion suits and to prepare to abandon ship about 30 miles east of Gloucester and a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk Helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod was diverted to assist.

The nine passengers were transferred from Liana’s Ransom to the Coast Guard motor lifeboats. One man suffered a head injury when leaping from Liana’s Ransom and was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital by the Jayhawk helicopter crew.

The Station Gloucester crews returned to the station with the eight remaining crewmembers. A locator beacon was left on Liana’s Ransom for tracking and the Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke is en-route to evaluate towing the vessel to port.

“It was fortunate for the crew of the vessel that the owner reached out to us,” said Jay Woodhead, the command duty officer at Sector Boston’s Command Center. He said with winds gusting to 30 knots, it was unsafe for them to stay aboard.

Liana’s Ransom has had a rough few months. In December, she was demasted off cape sable island while attempting to sail to St. Kitts. She is also rumored to have grounded in the sand in Eastern Passage during her last visit to Halifax.

Thanks to the bridge water police for tweeting the above photo. The ex HMCS Cormerant, has developed a severe list. The ship was retired and sold, and has been tied up at the dock in bridge water for at least the past 10 years.

It’s possible this is the result of snow load, or water has accumulated in a space. The list was first noticed a week ago, though it has since gotten worse.

Last year an ex fishing trawler also tied up at the same dock sunk and needed to be refloated. Photo Below is from last summer.